encounters and much more. "cnn this morning" continues right now. under no circumstances you are promising america tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody? >> except for day one. >> except for? >> except for day one. >> meaning in. >> i want to close the border and i want to drill -- >> that's -- >> he says you are not going to be a dictator, are you? no, no, no, other than day one. we are kpoes closing the border and drilling, drilling, drilling. after that i am not a dictator, okay? >> good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. that was donald trump last night saying the quiet part outloud when he was put on the spot. >> for trump rhetoric on the campaign trail sparked a frenzy of headlines this week about what he might do if he becomes president again. he danced around the question about abusing power. his ally ckash patel is talking about punishing enemies if there is a new trump term. this is a man who holds a senior role in trump's administration if trump wins. >> we will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media, yes. we are going to come after the people in the media who lied about american citizens, who helped joe biden rig presidential elections, we are going to come after you. >> president biden has been sounding the alarm and says trump is determined to destroy american democracy. he apparently really surprised donors and some of his own campaign team at a fundraiser yesterday when he made this candid comment. let me read you the quote. folks, this is a big deal. this election, we have got to get it done, not because of me, and i mean that, if trump wasn't running, i am not sure i'd be running. it's that part. but we cannot let him win for the sake of the country. >> reporters asked president biden to contextualize that comment when he returned to the white house. >> would you be running if president trump wasn't running? >> i expect so. look, he is runningnd a i have to run. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> no, not now. >> so how will trump's gop rivals respond on the debate stage tonight to his dictator for one day? he is skipping again. reality is none of them are remotely close no the polls. america is looking increasingly at a trump/biden rematch. could be, of course, major turn of events. have to see. that's where it stands? the polling. jeff zeleny is live in tuscaloosa, alabama, before the debate. the question is can nikki haley continue her momentum? >> reporter: good morning, phil. these debates have been a springboard for nikki haley. we have seen one debate after another she has continued to rise in the polls and certainly drawn more interest from voters in the early voting states, iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, she has got be donors paying attention to her and believing in her candidacy. florida governor ron desantis is also front and center, center stage. he has receded a bit from debate to debate to debate. now is the moment for choosing. this is one of the big dynamics we are watching for tonight between nikki haley and florida governor ron desantis. don't forget new hampshire or former new jersey governor chris christie. excuse me. he is campaigning aggressively in new hampshire. is he a roadblock for nikki haley? what is their dynamic tonight? and vivek ramaswamy, the entrepreneur from ohio, has been a thorn in the side of nikki haley. he has been known to dust it up and really get in the middle of this. so look for these four to perhaps have one of their most contentious debates yet. but there is no doubt that nikki haley is going to try to use this moment to really make the case for her generational change argument she has been making. the florida governor has everything on the line also. so that will be the biggest dynamic we are watching. the one driving this race, donald trump, he is not here, but you know he'll still be front and center in the conversation. >> i spoke with voters in iowa. again last debate before the iowa caucuses. i wonder what they told you? >> reporter: poppy, it's interesting. 40 days from now the iowa caucuses open the republican voting and december is often the month when undecided voters begin picking a side before the holidays. and that's what we found in our conversations. sally hoffman has been thinking and praying about the republican presidential race. >> i pray foe direction this country is going and i pray for the candidates. >> reporter: as candidates have descended on iowa, hoffman has watched with an open mind. when we first met earlier this year, she had high praise for donald trump and curiosity for two of his rivals. >> i like what trump has done. to me it's huge to have three u.s. supreme court justices during his term. and that -- i am a big pro-life proponent. i like what nikki haley is doing. i like desantis, too. so in that range. >> reporter: now as republican hopefuls scramble for support six weeks before the iowa caucuses open the 2024 campaign hoffman is among those looking for a fresh start. >> i am thankful for what trump did when he was in office, but i have been a little bit disappointed in trump lately. i am just veering away from him and leaning towards desantis. he seems like a man who when he believes something he stands by it. >> reporter: as fall turns to winter in iowa, its a season of choosing. iowa or illinois residents? >> iowa. >> perfect. have you already filled out a card? >> reporter: a critical moment for ron desantis and nikki haley to show that the republican primary is still a contest, not a coronation. >> i am very impressed with nikki haley. i just hope she gets the nomination. >> reporter: roger voted for trump, but believes his criminal cases are a distraction. >> whether he is guilty or not, i don't know. we will have to wait and see. but i just don't think he can be effective as leader of the country. >> reporter: there is little doubt trump remains a driving force in the campaign. >> we are going to win the iowa kauksz. >> reporter: he is in iowa again tonight, the second time in four days, to try to maintain his dominance. yet exhaustion with the former president once whispered easily comes alive in conversations with republicans. like karen, who also voted for trump, but so now weighing an alternative. what gives you pause about president trump? >> i think all this going on and i think ron desantis is a little bit more solid and less drama, you know. just all the things that trump's going through. the courts. so unsure about that. i like ron desantis, what he stands for. >> reporter: the question is how many iowa arns are inclined to go against the grain of the trump controlled gop as they make their final decisions. >> i am looking to nikki haley and, of course, desantis, and vivek and trump if -- >> reporter: her laughter underscores the expressions of many republicans. a reluctance to be with trump now, but a pledge to be with him in the end. >> if he is the nominee, i will vote for him. >> reporter: that sentiment resonates on the hoffman farm outside cedar rapids where sally said she, too, will support trump if he is the party's choice. for now, he is not her choice and she hopes iowa can spark a new direction for the country. >> i think it's more of a wide open race. >> reporter: wide open race? >> right. i think it won't surprise me if trump gets in. won't surprise me if he isn't the nominee. and i am just hoping that desantis might be the one. but i think it's more wide open. >> reporter: and these conversations are with people who voted for trump in most cases twice before. but they are looking for an alternative. so there is no doubt that the former president is still front and center and driving these conversations and focusing a lot on iowa. he was there again last night. that's where he made those dictator comments. iowa voters are paying attention to everything he is saying. that going to have an impact on the race? we shall see. he is stealing the show in some respect but certainly has not cleared the field. a reminder some voters are just tuning in. that's why he is there a lot and that's something to keep an eye on. >> jeff zeleny, thanks, buddy. appreciate it. >> joining us former democratic congressional comment in new york liz whitner, former trump campaign advisor david irvin and our chief national correspondent john king. could we start there? jeff always says it better than i can. he is leading but field is still open. i botched it. >> i do think it is an open race. trump is around 42, 43% in iowa, 40% in new hampshire. that means he can be beat. somewhere in the vicinity of six to ten percent of republicans are looking around around. a lot of trump voters say i can for trump. if he is shown to be vulnerable, can somebody show him to be weak in iowa like barack obama did to hillary clinton? there is a possibility. new hampshire loves being contrarian to iowa. if it's nikki haley, she goes home to south carolina. if you add up the haley vote, desantis vote, ramaswamy vote, you have a challenge to trump. throw in the christie vote, you can beat trump. does it consolidate? not yet. there is an opening there. >> to that point, this is always the case. i think this the nikki haley kind of theory of the case, right. something happens in new hampshire and you change the trajectory and people flood in who had been waiting for a permission structure to some degree. >> i think the old adage how you run the race, unopposed or scared, right. you run scared, you've got to run scared. the trump campaign is headed and run by people who are very serious and know this game. suzie whiels -- these are all veterans. they have done this before. they are going to spend a ton of time between now and january 15th in iowa, try to take the variables out to make it as firm as possible there. look, as john said, there is an opening. new hampshire you have independents can vote, democrats can vote. going to south carolina, i think trump beats haley in south carolina even if she has a nice showing in new hampshire. but it could be, you know, you could come out of iowa, new hampshire, going to south carolina with much more of a two-horse race than a six or seven-horse race at that point. >> liz, how are you watching this as a democrat? we have seen some head-to-head matchups where nikki haley is a bigger problem for president biden than former president trump is. >> sure. i think just as a voter and american, i think would be great if we could wake up the day after aban election without existential fear. it would be fantastic if we could have two candidates that people could feel good about. thinking about the debate tonight, the four people on the stage, they all raised their hand when asked if they would support, you know, an eventual all trump nomination with the exception of chris christie. >> i don't think christie did. >> he didn't. and desantis looked around and saw what other people were doing before he raised his hand. thing thing that strikes me is you have candidates who want to be the leader of the free world but won't take on the frontrunner in their current primary and i think that's really concerning. >> interesting, on, the contrast between that and the current president who views the stakes as enormous. the down sides of a trump victory as catastrophic. i think acknowledged what has been a through line of his entire last five or six years last night in a fundraiser as he always does, speaking candidly behind closed doors, drives me nuts. but in saying that he may not have run were it not for trump. but trump was there. trump was the reason he got in in 2019nd the reason he has done everything he's done in the last two and a half years. >> he said the quiet part outloud. he said he would be a transitional figure. and then he decided -- but he views trump -- when he came back to the white house he was asked -- because it was at a fundraiser. he was asked -- he said would you get out? not now. that is the key part, not now, because the democratic calendar is a little bit different. 40 days to iowa, then new hampshire, then south carolina. if joe biden stepped aside now, he thinks the chaos would be too much in the democratic party. there are a lot of conversations when you travel with voters. are they both too old, time for a change? joe biden should not be starting another one of those conversations. >> not now maybe later, not now too late? >> too late. >> david, the dictator comments? >> i mean -- >> by trump? >> look, obviously, regrettable. if i had the president here i would shake him and say what the hell are you doing in. >> sean hannity almost did that on stage. >> he did that. i told john this kind off stage. donald trump hates to have his arm twisted by sean hannity -- sean hannity's gonna make donald trump say i made a mistake. donald trump's not going to do that. it's not in his dna. >> he did make a mistake. >> i think 2016 my friend had a -- she coined a phrase which is widely reported use throughout the trump campaign. trump supporters take him, you know, seriously but not literally and detractors take hit literally but not seriously. in this case, a little bit more of the same but not helped by folks like kash patel and steve bannon who are far worse -- >> can you talk about what kash patel said? he had a big role, former counter terrorism advisor on the national security council. would likely -- in the trump administration if he wins? he says we will go out andd the conspirators, not just in government, but the media. we are coming after the people in the media who lied about the american -- >> it's outrageous to say those things. it's not helpful. it's outrageous. the only person that can beat donald trump in this race is donald trump in saying those kinds of things. that may appeal to a certain segment of the primary electorate. won't help you win voters in maccomb county or bucks county or montgomery county. >> one sentence on truth social to quiet this. he does not speak for me. have you seen that? >> no. >> no, because -- >> i'm -- on hannity last night saying, yeah, day one i will be a dictator. and i think that you are right to be concerned. it's a very scary time. i genuinely worry if people go to voting booth in november and cast their vote for trump, that might be the last vote they cast. attacks on the media. attacks on people who disagree. i think that we are in great danger. i'm worried not only for this country, because i think it was -- i'm going to quote ronald reagan. but freedom is one generation away from extinction, and that is genuinely true. and when you think about attacks on the knmedia and going after enemy and jailing people who disagree with you, we could be in a very dark place. >> like what liz cheney is saying coming from a democrat. another list. thank you all. appreciate it, david, john, liz. okay. president biden sitting down with our own anderson cooper for a one-of-a-kind conversation on grief. anderson next with the latest episode of the all there is podcast. the fbi director with a stark warning about terror threats in the united states. he seize blinking red lights everywhere. the homeland security ser tear joins us for an interview about what is done to keep americans safe. . "allll there is"s" ♪ welcome back. this morning arizona and texas are seeing a spike in border crossings as the country faces a continuing and growing migrant surge and the u.s. border patrol rewleesing video of a rescue of a migrant drowning in texas. agents observed a guatemalan man struggling, an agent pulled a man out, the agency says, tended to him. he didn't need additional medical care and is okay thank goodness. this comes as border security and immigration reform are at the center of fighting congress over funding wars overseas. today the sfit is set to hold a critical test vote on president biden's $100 billion supplemental national security package and that includes additional funds for both israel and ukraine. the white house warning that ukraine funding is almost gone and that delaying it could hand a victory to putin. rz republican senators vowing to vote against it unless includes big border policy changes. they say the aid package is an opportunity to force the biden administration to deal with the border crisis. >> this has been a point of contention for many years. the biden administration has been unwilling to do anything about it, and i think we now have an opportunity to hold their feet to the fire. >> joining us is homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. mr. secretary, i am so glad you are with us this morning. let's begin with what john cornyn said there. why is this not the moment to deal with the crisis at the border? >> poppy, thank you for having me. let me make this perfectly clear. the immigration system has been broken for deck and our department of homeland security has been underfunded for years and years. and president biden has addressed both issues with strength from day one. on the first day of his administration, he presented congress with legislation to fix our immigration system, and we have submitted to congress a supplemental funding bill that will resource our department. the heroic border patrol agents that you displayed just a few minutes ago, to fund them as they need to address what is an unprecedented level of migration not only at our southern border, not only in the western hemisphere, but throughout the world. >> address with strength is what you say the president and this administration are doing, but even his surrogate, illinois governor j.b. pritzker does not feel that in illinois. listen to this from october. >> we were very clear in our communication with the white house that what we need is logistical support, that is, help deciding where these folks ought to go because they can't all go to chicago. seems like now is the moment to talk about border security and immigration reform. >> and then he wrote this, the federal government must st abdicating responsibilities once they release migrants to the interior of the country. sounds like one of the president's biggest supporters says we need help now from the biden administration. >> well, with respect to governor pritzker, with whom i communicate on a regular basis, we have provided him with tremendous assistance not just financially through our shelter in services program, funding that the president achieved, but also in providing technical advice. let's get to the root of what governor pritzker's challenge is, is that we have another governor in another state that is not cooperating and coordinating with either federal or other local authorities and is unilaterally sending migrants to cities in what i think is an abdication of governance responsibility. >> you are talking about greg abbott? >> i am indeed. >> this also, though, from katie hobbs, the governor of arizona, just this week. listen. >> we need the federal government to act and provide more resources. we have been clear about that, consistently. this is a bad decision that impacts our border security, it hurts our economy because it's putting a damper on trade and tourism. >> she is a democrat. also a letter to the white house from five democratic mayors of denver, new york, los angeles, chicago, and houston saying they need resources far beyond the 14 billion that the president proposed in the supplemental. will the president be going back to the southern border to see more of the crisis with his own eyes? >> poppy, what these governors are speaking of is precisely what the president has sought to address and why we need congress to act. we do, indeed, need additional resources. the department of homeland security needs additional resources. the department of justice for additional immigration judges. the state department for appropriate funding of our refugee programs and th